Abstract

Thermal waters are considered as natural treasures for their specific properties. They are primarily used for medical purposes (treatment of various diseases, recreation and tourism, spas, etc.), but are also being exploited for their geothermal potential (energy and heating). The northern and eastern parts of Croatia are very rich in geothermal and mineral water springs so many Croatian facilities have a long tradition of rehabilitation and tourism. However, as much as these waters are considered as cures, they can also pose a health hazard due to higher exposure to natural radioactivity since many of them are rich primarily in radium isotopes from natural uranium and thorium decay chains. Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 238U, 234U, 210Po, 210Pb, 40K and 137Cs for Croatian thermal and mineral waters, collected directly from springs (or wells), are presented herein with total effective doses assessed for consumption of those waters that are also used as drinking “cures”. The methods used for radionuclide determination included alpha- particle spectrometry (226Ra, 238U, 234U, 210Po), gas-proportional counting (210Pb) and gamma-ray spectrometry (228Ra, 40K, 137Cs). Activity concentrations of all radionuclides were found to be below the guidance levels set by the WHO and EC Directive, with an exception of one water sample measuring 0.26 Bq/L of 228Ra. The effective ingestion dose assessment for water “cure” consumption during one, two or four weeks time period per year showed that the maximum doses ranged between 0.004 and 0.014 mSv, which is well below the recommended 0.1 mSv for drinking water.

Item Type:

Conference or workshop item published in conference proceedings
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